Dr Pat Bennett Educational Psychologist Causes of R eading Difficulties How many possible causes of potential reading difficulties can we identify Poor auditory discrimination ID: 660631
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Slide1
‘Visual Dyslexia’ – myth or reality??
Dr Pat Bennett
Educational PsychologistSlide2
Causes of
R
eading Difficulties - How many possible causes of potential reading difficulties can we identify?
Poor auditory discrimination?
Poor visual discrimination?
Spoken language difficulties?
D
ifficulties in recognising sequences?
Poor short term or working memory?
History of ear infections leading to glue ear?
Slow information processing?
Weak cognitive abilities?
Lack of exposure to books and stories at an early age?
Poor phonic knowledge?
Poor motivation?
Youngest in the year group?
Slide3
Some common problems of perception
can affect reading…
What is perception?Slide4
Binocular instability– difficulty in coordinating and controlling both eyes together, which means that the child cannot sustain clear single vision.
Symptoms include –
Double visionHeadachesLooking away from the text frequentlyLosing the line of textApparent movement of the textSlide5
Convergence– a kind of binocular problem with the inability to focus both eyes together without great effort in near vision
Symptoms include –Words are blurred, unstable, there may be double vision and/or near vision difficulties Eye strain/headachesLoss of comprehensionTirednessCovering one eye while reading/ tilting headPoor depth perception/ judging distances/ catching ballsSlide6
Colour Blindness– two colours are typically seen as the same, for example red and green; or blue and yellow
A very few people cannot see colour at all and see the world in shades of grey but this is very rare.Slide7
Contrast– refers to the light and dark parts of an image. Some colours of pens do not provide sufficient contrast on boards for some children and may make reading more difficultSlide8
Tracking – the act of moving the line of focused vision along the line and from one line to another smoothly and accurately.
Difficulty in saccadal eye movementsVisual plane disturbance (the text is distorted so lines do not look parallel Copying from the board is difficultChild may miss out words, lines and keep losing their place when readingSlide9
Directionality:- Directionality is another visual skill important for academic success.
If
the visual reflex is from left to right, a duck will be seen. However, if the visual reflex is from right to left, a rabbit will be seen. Slide10
Inversions and reversals– a directionality difficulty: the child sees words and letters the wrong way round
Most commonly this affects
p/q and b/dAffects words such as saw/was; dog/godInversion is less common but can affect d/q and t/fNB: THIS CAN SOMETIMES BE ATTRIBUTED TO OTHER CAUSES SUCH AS MEMORY DIFFICULTIES i.e. a problem of cognition, not perceptionSlide11
Visual Stress – Visual Discomfort – what is it?
A visual processing (perception) problem where,
for example, children : Complain of letters moving or jumping around the pageHave problems with tracking from one line of text to another, words joining up or breaking upFind it difficult to discriminate between letter shapesHave pattern ‘glare’ or experience ‘blobs’ of colour moving across the pageSee words as ‘fuzzy’ Experience reading associated headaches and/or migrainesSlide12
Visual Stress – Visual Discomfort – why is it?
Although it has been identified since the 1980’s, the condition is not yet fully understood.
Sometimes referred to as Irlen Syndrome or Meares Irlen SyndromeSometimes called Visual DyslexiaSlide13
What does Visual Stress look like?Slide14Slide15Slide16Slide17Slide18Slide19Slide20Slide21
Opticians Eye Tests?
These often focus only on distance vision and identify near and long sightedness, and astigmatism, but
fail to identify more subtle signs. Optometrist (an ophthalmic optician): examines eyes and prescribes and fits glasses and contact lensesSpecialist Professions:Ophthalmologist: a medically qualified doctor who may be a physician or surgeon specialising in disorders of the eye and eye musclesOrthoptist: investigates, diagnoses and treats defects of vision, binocular vision and abnormal eye movementsSlide22
Visual stress – the role of teachers in school?
Observe
RecordInterveneCollect evidencePass on concerns and information to parentsSlide23
What are the possible
behavioural signs
of Visual Stress?Rubbing eyesIncreased blink rate or blinking strangelyHolding the book at an unusual angleUsing
finger as marker
Closing
one eye while reading
Looking away frequently from the page
Eyes wandering erratically over the page
Yawning a lotSlide24
Other tell-tale
signs:
Poor concentrationHeadaches/migrainesMissing out lines or words when readingSlow readingPoor comprehensionAvoidance tactics during literacy but otherwise engages wellStrain when working under bright lightingDifficulty finding comfortable lightingLosing place frequentlyDifficulty in judging distances (associated with depth perception)
Being accident prone/clumsySlide25
Questions to ask yourself…
Can this child actually see the words or do they need glasses for long or short sightedness?
Are both eyes able to track together? Does the child keep losing their place?Are the words clear to the child, or fuzzy, or moving, or vibrating?Can the child cope with different colours and different levels of contrast?Can the child form whole word shapes fluently without having to decode each feature of each letter/ do they skip words? Can the child perceive spatial relationships and manipulate space and orientation in their mind? Is the child closing or covering one eye?Slide26
What to do…
Observe carefully…
Make notes…use the child’s actual words wherever possible… Don’t use leading questions or put words into the child’s mouth…If concerns continue, consult parents and suggest some possible interventions….Slide27
Possible questions to ask…
Do the letters stay still on the paper?
Are they clear or are they blurred? (fuzzy)Are the words too close together or too far apart?Is the page too bright, not bright enough or just right?What do you eyes feel like when they look at print?Does it hurt your eyes to look at the print or is it ok?Why do you turn the page around like that to look at it?You are blinking a lot/ covering one eye when you read…is there a reason for that?When you read, you put your finger under the words…how does this help you?Slide28
What children have said to me personally in the past…
It goes buzzy, ‘bleeping like that’.
The lights get in the way and shine on it…I try and guess and carry on. I need to stand up to see the letters sometimes. (referring to looking at the whiteboard)The middle was coming out and there were lines coming downThe last three letters always have spikes but sometimes all the word has spikesSometimes it disappears and comes back on (referring to a line of line drawings)Slide29
Tools which can be used to investigate further…
Visual tracking magnifier
High contrast magnifierChanged lightingChanged fonts/ spacingTest child’s performance in Visual discrimination exercisesChanged background colour on computer monitorReading rulersColoured overlaysDepending on the effect of any of these interventions, parents may be advised to seek further specialist opinion.Slide30
What are coloured overlays?Slide31
What if coloured overlays
are helpful?
If the child continues to use the overlay, unprompted, or the teacher/parent reports an improvement it has most likely been beneficial.The Wilkins Rate of Reading Test can provide evidence of benefit The overlay is usually given as a trial period for approx. 6 weeks to rule out novelty factors. Specialist opinion should then be obtained by parentsGlasses with coloured lenses might be
prescribed. These are more convenient as they can be used with board work. The tint is a much more precise tint as many more colours combinations are used. Again the tint will vary from person to person
. Only a specialist can assess for and prescribe these.Slide32
The placebo effect…Slide33
What is the Wilkins rate of reading test?
An easy reading test that can be done quite quickly
The child reads random words in a passage, and the time taken and number of errors are recorded.The child then reads another similar passage using the preferred coloured overlay. With SOME children, the rate of reading and the number of errors are remarkably reduced using an overlay IF visual stress is the reason for their reading difficultiesThis provides evidence for parents and specialists that an expert assessment is desirable.Slide34
Final Note:
I have used the term verbal dyslexia loosely in the title of this talk to mean any problems with reading which can be attributed to difficulties of PERCEPTION.
Other terms used are visual stress, and visual discomfort. There can be other problems of vision which have been undiagnosed.While the terminology is contested, the problem can be real for some children (and adults) , and if left unnoticed, lead to problems of poor motivation and behaviour in school. Slide35